Texas Now Suing Killeen & Austin For Illegal Marijuana Laws

The cities of Killeen and Austin, Texas are being sued by the state over marijuana laws.

The Attorney General Ken Paxton just announced yesterday lawsuits against Killeen, Texas and Austin, Texas, plus three other cities for what the state is declaring are illegal marijuana laws that are supported by, "Pro-crime extremists."

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Over the past couple of years, there were five cities in the Lone Star State that passed various named bills to decriminalize the possession of low amounts of marijuana. Each of these municipalities have essentially directed local law enforcement and prosecutors to ignore the Texas state laws in regards to the very common controlled substance of marijuana.

Why are Killeen, TX and Austin, TX being sued for marijuana laws?

In this press release by Attorney General Paxton, he states,

"He continues to seek accountability for the rogue district attorneys whose abuse of prosecutorial discretion has contributed to a deadly national crimewave."

According to this KCEN article, the three other cities also facing legal actions are San Marcos, Elgin, and Denton.

Why did it take this long for the State of Texas to take action on city marijuana laws?

I would imagine based on the movements of various local governments, the state was hopeful these cities would become compliant with the state laws. It finally got to the point where the Attorney General had to make a move because of the inaction on the local levels.

According to this KCEN article, the city of Killeen did amend the laws some, but now that legal pressure is being applied at the state level, we will see how far and for how much money these cities want to fight.